Brian Pugh: Gouveia Park is a gift to our community.

Gouveia Park is now officially open, as my colleague Trustee Ann Gallelli wrote in last week’s Gazette. If you have not had the opportunity to visit–I strongly recommend that you take some time to do so.

The park is open daily from 8AM to 9PM.

The Gouveia family, longtime Croton residents, donated the 15+ acre property with green lawns and rolling hills that’s become the park. The late Laurel Gouveia also donated a $1 Million fund to help with the maintenance of the property.

After improvements to the park by the Village, such as picnic tables and a parking lot, the Gouveia Park is now open to the public.

Although the donation of the Gouveia property was the source of some controversy, it’s worth remembering that Croton Landing was also the target of criticism when its acquisition was first discussed. Indeed, many of today’s Gouveia Park grousers were yesterday’s critics of Croton Landing.

I believe that a stroll through the new Gouveia Park should put such concerns about the property to rest and inspire appreciation for the generosity of the Gouveia family.